As part of its ongoing mission to invest $100 million in
organizations focused on achieving social justice, the Warner Music
Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF
SJF) today announced its initial six grant recipients: Black
Cultural Archives, Black Futures Lab, Florida Rights Restoration
Coalition (FRRC), Howard University, REFORM Alliance and Rhythm
& Blues Foundation.
The WMG/BFF SJF was established in June 2020 in the wake of the
brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and
countless other Black people. These horrific events heightened
awareness about the ongoing systemic issues plaguing Black
communities. The Fund serves as an acknowledgement of the
contributions Black culture has made to the profitability of
today’s music industry. Over 10 years, the Fund will invest in
organizations around the globe that build more equitable
communities and create real change in the lives of historically
underserved and marginalized populations – with heightened
attention to Black communities.
“We have been intentional in structuring the Fund as a separate
legal entity to support organizations that are on the front lines
of advancing equity and justice for all people,” said Camille
Hackney, President of the WMG/BFF SJF and Chief Partnerships
Officer at Atlantic Records/Head of Global Brand Partnerships
Council at Warner Music Group. “Our Fund intends to not only work
to effect structural change through our contributions, but also
support Black-owned and led businesses as a core way of
operating.”
As part of that purpose-driven structure, the Fund has chosen
OneUnited Bank – the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S. – as its
banking partner, and Moore Impact – a division of a Black
woman-owned start-up Moore Philanthropy, led by Yvonne L. Moore –
as its fiscal sponsor. Moore will play a key role in the
distribution of the funds. The Advisory Board includes five
external members whose counsel and expertise in social justice have
been invaluable to defining the Fund’s mission and strategic
direction.
Tanya Coke, WMG/BFF Advisory Board member and the Director of
Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice at the Ford Foundation, said:
“Over the past eight months, we’ve crafted a grantmaking strategy
focused on three key pillars – education, criminal justice, and
cultural and performing arts – that promote narrative change about
the Black experience. This first tranche of grants – to
organizations providing a range of needed services and advocacy to
effectuate meaningful change – reflects these guiding principles,
as well as the values of Warner Music Group and the Blavatnik
Family Foundation.”
Howard University, for example, will receive a
multimillion-dollar grant over the course of five years that will
go toward the launch of a new music business center at Howard
University School of Business. A first-of-its-kind at any
historically Black College or University (HBCU), the center will
create curriculum development, internship opportunities,
executive-in-residence and certification programs, as well as a new
recording studio. With the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition,
the funds have helped over 40,000 returning citizens (i.e.,
formerly convicted persons) become eligible to vote by paying their
remaining legal and financial fees. For the Rhythm & Blues
Foundation, the grant will help provide financial and medical
assistance to legacy R&B artists who have been confronted with
unprecedented economic challenges due to the COVID-19 global
pandemic.
“Providing opportunities for underserved communities in
education in the arts paves the way for equal opportunity and
representation in the music industry and beyond,” said Len
Blavatnik, Chairman of the Blavatnik Family Foundation. “The Fund’s
commitment to a sustained effort to achieve change and results will
have a lasting, positive impact.”
The WMG/BFF SJF is one expression of Warner Music Group’s
ongoing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts, which
include the creation of a Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Council, employee resource groups, and a DEI team led by Dr.
Maurice A. Stinnett, who also sits on the Fund’s Advisory Board.
Each grantee will meet with Dr. Stinnett and other key WMG
executives to explore additional partnership opportunities.
Grant Recipients:
Howard University is a private, federally
chartered historically HBCU, comprising 13 schools and colleges in
Washington D.C. Students pursue studies in more than 140 areas
leading to undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees.
Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D.
recipients than any other university in the United States.
Rhythm & Blues Foundation is dedicated to
the historical and cultural preservation of R&B music. The idea
for the foundation grew out of royalties discussions in 1987
between artists’ rights attorney Howell Begle, Atlantic Records
artist Ruth Brown, and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The
R&B Foundation's mission is to provide financial support,
medical assistance and educational outreach through various grants
and programs. The Foundation is currently supporting R&B
artists who recorded music from the 1940s through the 1990s.
REFORM Alliance aims to dramatically reduce the
number of people who are unjustly under the control of the criminal
justice system – starting with probation and parole. It leverages
resources to change laws, policies, hearts, and minds. The REFORM
Alliance was co-founded by Fanatics Executive Chairman Michael
Rubin; Atlantic Records artist and criminal justice reform advocate
Meek Mill; entrepreneur and business mogul Shawn "JAY-Z"
Carter; Kraft Group CEO and New England Patriots owner Robert
Kraft; Brooklyn Nets co-owner and philanthropic investor Clara
Wu Tsai; Galaxy Digital CEO and founder Michael E. Novogratz;
Vista Equity Partners founder, chairman, and CEO Robert F.
Smith; Arnold Ventures co-founder Laura Arnold; and CNN host,
author and activist Van Jones.
Black Cultural Archives (BCA) is the home of
Black British History, conceived in 1981 as a monument to hold
space for the histories of people from across the African diaspora
in British culture and history. The organization uses its mission
to collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of
African and Caribbean descent in the UK and to inspire and give
strength to individuals, communities and society. BCA’s HQ is 1
Windrush Square in Brixton, London. At its headquarters, the BCA
runs a series of gallery exhibitions, educational programs, and
public engagement events. BCA provides free access to its unique
set of archives, museum objects and reference library.
Black Futures Lab works to build Black
political power and change the way it operates – locally,
statewide, and nationally. The organization engages Black voters
year-round, encouraging them to use their political strength to
build a democracy that works for all of us. It combines culture
change and policy change to put more power into the hands of more
people.
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) is
a membership organization committed to ending the
disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with
convictions in the U.S. Made up and led by returning citizens
(i.e., formerly convicted persons), FRRC works to create a
comprehensive and humane reentry system that will enhance
successful reentry, reduce recidivism and increase public safety.
The coalition is a respected leader in the effort to register,
engage, and mobilize returning citizens and their families into
empowered members of the community and passionate voters.
The Board will announce grant recipients twice a year with its
second tranche to follow this fall. For more information about the
fund, please visit https://www.wmg.com/fund.
Media ContactsKristal McKanders/James
StevenCommunications@wmg.com
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